How to use personal brand photography to market your business and attract your ideal client.
In today’s blog we are going to tap in to the power of corporate and personal branding. We will see how bespoke photography can add value to your business and bring in more customers or clients to your company.
But first let’s break down the different types of commercial photography.
Well, the list is growing by the day but you may have heard of –
personal branding photography, corporate branding photography, headshots, lifestyle, story-telling photography, advertising photography, and there are more!
To read more on what all these different genres of photography are - go here
Generally, all these styles of photography are connected and are linked under the term commercial photography. The main function of which is to capture you and your employees, ultimately this is your brand.
Commercial photographers tend to focus on your personality – who you are and what you do. Of course, there are other types of photography that focus on different parts of your business – product photography, still-life, flat lays, look books etc.
But that’s for another post!
ITS ALL ABOUT YOU AND YOUR STAFF!
This blog is going to concentrate on the “people side” of commercial photography.
Why? Because I believe this is where the most gains can be had in attracting more, shall we say, ”eye-fall” to your business. It’s the part of promotion that most company owners forget about and yet it’s their most important asset.
I am going to unpack this more and more as we go on, so bear with me.
So, lets see what other people think.
Firstly turning to Guttulus.com, the digital marketing platform and their post on Why Photography is important for marketing. They make many salient points as to why photography, in particular, “good photography” can spark emotional responses that can drive up your sales.
Here’s a bullet point list of their main points:
You can communicate the value of your brand really quickly to potential customers.
Good Photographs are easy to promote on social media. Platforms such as Instagram are set up to showcase photography
Branding photographs that tell a story or contain a narrative make your product compelling for your customers. They help consumers picture themselves using that product or service.
The post goes on to relate the importance of unique and high quality imagery and most of all they need to be relevant to your business.
Their thought’s are echoed in another website by Mannixmarketing.com they are also specialists in digital marketing.
In a post that looks at the reasons why “ Every business needs professional photos”, Jessica Tracey talks about the benefits of using a professional photographer as well as discussing the downfalls of using poor quality photographs and stock images.
I will discuss the problems associated with using stock images in another blog. But for the time being I agree with Jessica in that they do not represent your brand and can be confusing to customers. The sophisticated consumer/viewer can spot fake imagery a mile off. At best it gives of mixed messages at worst… the next website is only a click away!
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
It’s a very well know quote and perhaps over used. But why is this?
My previous career as Senior Lecturer in Photography involved, as you would expect, a lot of lectures on the history of photography but I also encouraged my students to investigate offer forms of creativity - the moving image, painting and design, such as typography. These are all connected and form a library of visual culture.
But, for me, the strength of photography lies in it’s the fact that it is totally subjective – the viewer brings their own emotions, memory and knowledge into play.
Its not as prescriptive as say a movie or short film.
So, I would argue that you, the viewer, is able to interact with the photograph on a deeper level.
The single image is in-grained in your memory/subconscious for longer than the moving image and has more value as a result.
As an aside, if you combine music with photographs, like on a slideshow, it can create really powerful emotions and connections.
An article by Sarah Taylor for Relevance.com echoes my thoughts on the continued importance of photography in marketing.
Sarah also talks about the use of photographs as a call to action as well as the importance of engaging professionals to create pictures that have a powerful message that ultimately drive sales and ROI.
For those who want to delve deeper into the connection between the photograph and the viewer, I recommend searching for Gestalt Theory. The principles of this particular brand of psychology are fascinating and help explain how these “connections” are made and developed.
I would also say that with the development of the camera phone and its proliferation of use – more than 50% of the population of the planet have a smart phone, that’s 3.5 billion!
This means that we are dealing with a public that has become hyper visually aware.
The still image has always been popular but now it has become universal. I appreciate that, as technology gets better, video is certainly an important part of this mix. But my point is that modern consumers are very visually literate and can understand and read a photograph very quickly.
The growing appeal of Instagram, and others, points towards this trend.
OK, so now let’s see how your business can leverage the power of the photograph.
THE HUMBLE HEADSHOT AND PROFILE PHOTO
Let’s firstly rewind the clock back a mere 10 or 15 years and you will find me in my photography studio in Stoke Newington, London, with a queue of actors, actresses and the occasional comedian at my door.
They were there to have their professional headshots taken.
The headshot being a standard tool in the promotion and advancement of their chosen career, be it stage or screen.
The profile photo of the day followed a strict protocol, invariably black and white, cropped to a 10’ x 8’ and with a fairly natural expression. Unless it was for a particular role that the actress wanted to apply for, in which case, she would commission me to photograph her acting out that role – swash buckling heroine, sympathetic nurse etc.
Business people had their photos taken as well but these were for company reports or to be included in a presentation, and they were called portraits or even more grandly environmental portraits.
Think Annie Liebowitz or one my favourite, the British photographer Brian Griffin.
Ok, lets forward to the present day and the internet reigns supreme and we are all going around saying “ what did we do before ……” (insert name of massive American company here). And now everyone needs a headshot, you can’t survive without one!
Well a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.
Facebook page, Dating profiles, Business on LinkedIn – the list goes on and on but they all ask for a headshot or profile photo.
Why – because we are all unique and as humans we can recognise each other in the blink of an eye.
LET’S SEE HOW YOUR HEADSHOT CAN BRING IN MORE CUSTOMERS
It’s well known that to help with your marketing plan you have to imagine the kind of customers you want to attract. Well this will also give you a good start as to how you want your headshot to look.
Here are some examples:
A sales team will want to look inviting and friendly as well as trustworthy.
So, I would photograph them:
· Smiling but not too much to avoid it looking cheesy.
· Smart business like attire – branded tie etc.
· Light background
· Close up to make a connection
· Make sure there is a consistency to all images.
A management team will need to represent your companies values, look in-control and ready to get involved in dealing with problems.
You would there photograph them:
A more serious expression, the half-smile looks good here
More casual clothing and showing more personality
Scope for showing the workspace in the background
Details to show their role in the company
CEO’s, directors and owners offer more scope for creative headshots as they directly represent the business, they are the face of the company.
So, in this case there is scope to include more in the photograph:
· A solid look and stance that shows you are ready for business
· Clothing is important and you may need different looks for different purposes
· Company branding needs to be included
· Include subtle references to bring out your personality – pin badges, holding an object.
If you want to know more about what makes a perfect headshot, or how to prepare for your headshot lesson follow these links:
How to stand out from the crowd with an attention-grabbing profile photo
Get the perfect background for your headshot
3 tips for your headshot session
PERSONAL BRANDING PHOTOGRAPHY
A relatively new type of marketing concept for the ‘solo-preneur’. This is a massively growing market and I believe that with the rise of micro-economics combined with the death of the high street it’s only going to get bigger.
It’s all about promoting yourself as the face and identity of your business.
With the proliferation of websites and difficulties of getting seen and found on google it has become more important to find your Unique Selling Point (USP) – the thing that sets your product apart from the competition.
Invariably it is you and your story that is unique.
Personal Brand Photography is all about finding that unique story – the visual narrative. And then using those images as a form of promotion through different marketing streams – it’s about creating content for not only your website but for social media as well – Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin and the like. If you want to find some top tips about creating awesome brand photography go here
All well and good.
HOW TO DECIDE WHICH PHOTOGRAPHS ARE BEST FOR MY PERSONAL BRAND?
To help you answer this question, think about yourself – what draws you into a particular brand. We often do it subconsciously, but from now on start to make your purchase decisions research.
Start to think and reflect what works for you and then think “would that approach be beneficial for me and my business?”
Again, think of who is your ideal customer and put yourself in their shoes, what would they like to see?
What I like to do for my personal brand customers who are looking for photography is to include a combination of first, second and even third person views. This is so the viewer can imagine what it is like to consume or use the product. More on this later.
I also focus on shooting images that are applicable to the brand. I often see rather generic images in personal branding of people sitting around drinking coffee or looking glamorous. Now, I was a fashion photographer for many years, making people look attractive is part of my DNA.
And yes there is scope for these types of images.
But the viewer has to be able to look at the photograph and understand what the brand does.
Decide on where the photograph is going to be used.
If it’s destined for social media, say Facebook. A more personal and looser approach might be appropriate. Your camera-phone is ideal for this, with more of a diaryesque feel to the photography – jaunty angles and casual framing are the way to go.
Instagram, with its high volume of quality images might suit a different approach. Behind the scenes storyboards to complement a slick website. Flat-lays showing of your product. The manufacturing process. All are different approaches that can be utilised for your photography campaign, just remember to keep it all on brand.
Website images might warrant a bit more of a financial investment for the following reasons:
1. Once you have decided on your website people tend to not change it around very often – maybe once every couple of years.
So, its important to start of with images you are really happy about.
2. Images might need to be cropped to extremes to fit in with the layout of your website. I which case you will need high resolution files.
3. Your website is hopefully where your customers will spend most of their time, good photographs, as we have seen, will draw them in.
You can find out more about putting a personal brand photoshoot together here and also see a branding photoshoot BTS video here:
CORPORATE OR BUSINESS BRANDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Before the internet businesses would market themselves via an annual company report, an advert taken out in local or national magazines or maybe an advertising campaign run on billboards or posters.
Nowadays even though the above is still applicable a lot of the budget is spent on websites and social media.
Even though the platform may have changed the philosophy behind marketing is still the same – to promote and grow the brand to increase sales.
As a commercial photographer working with an established company you are often working around a brief set out by a marketing department. Or sometimes you could be working with the department to work out what imagery best suits the company.
Generally images created on a corporate branding photoshoot will be carefully constructed to match the style of the company and also the demographic of the clients who they may be after.
STYLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY FOR WEBSITES.
One thing that I have definitely noticed with the change-over from print to digital platforms is when I worked with magazines invariably the images would be in portrait mode – front covers and the like.
Nowadays the landscape format is more popular especially for headers, banners and the way websites tend to work. It can be a challenging format to work in but if you get it right you can produce images that are vert cinematic.
However, there is still a lot off scope for my favourite image crop, which is square.
This format works really well on websites because it looks good on laptops and PC’s as well as the mobile phone. And off course let’s not forget Instagram which is exclusively square images.
IF YOU’RE A CORPORATION WHICH PHOTOGRAPHS WILL MY CLIENTS LOVE?
One of the first things I aim to do is to incorporate the company colours into the branding photographs. A lot of the time it doesn’t have to be your primary colour, if you have a secondary (accent) colour that will look really good on your website.
For example, I shot a campaign for W2B and their main colour is blue, the website is mainly blue, but they also use orange as an accent colour. When I incorporated orange into the shots – ties, cups, little details etc. the images really popped on the website.
Another thing you can do is to include in your images the little details that make your company and company space/office what it is. It’s easy to overlook these things but it will really draw your customers in.
In the book Fanocracy by David and Reiko Scott, father and daughter discuss in depth how to turn your customers into fans of your business ie they keep coming back for more.
One quote that resonates for me is:
‘ The relationships we build with our customers are more important than the products and services we sell to them’ pg.27
Personal details that you share with your customers are perfect for building theses relationships and platforms like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn are the kind of platforms for sharing them.
Say a member of your staff is celebrating a birthday at work with cake and your share the photo on Instagram – it can be a camera phone photo, in fact the more candid the better. This shows to your customers/fans that your business values it’s employees, it’s about building empathy.
LET YOUR CUSTOMERS IMAGINE THEMSELVES USING YOUR SERVICE.
If there is one thing that photography is good for its creating ambiguity! I know this might seem an odd thing to say, as on the face-of-it a photograph appears to be a factual document.
Well It’s not!
It is highly subjective and the decisions to make a photograph at a certain time in a certain place of a certain thing is informed by many things.
It’s a classical debate I have with my students all the time.
But as a business you can use this ambiguity for a positive effect.
Whenever I am putting photographs together for a website or corporate brochure I always make sure I include two types of photograph – the 1st person point of view and the 3rd person point of view.
THE FIRST PERSON POV
This is very popular in video games – it’s when the camera is seeing what you would be seeing. For example a hand reaching out in front of you to grab a cup of coffee.
Or the one I see a lot is when you have your hand (representing you) being dragged by someone else to a beach or nice holiday destination.
THE THIRD PERSON POV.
And this is when the camera is a casual observer, it’s the main type of shot we might see in a movie. An example would be the over the shoulder shot. As a viewer with empathise with this type of photograph because we feel part of it.
So there you have it.
I would love to hear what you think, whether you are a photographer or an end user. Let me know what successes you have had by up scaling the photography content in your business.
